Safety guard gate



Aug. 18, 1936. 2,051,359

J. L. ADAMS, JR

SAFETY GUARD GATE Filed Oct. 3, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 18, 1936. J ADAMS; JR 2,051,359

SAFETY GUARD GATE Filed 001;. 5, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 eie 7 25F i \25 44a )4 22 Patented Aug. 18, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application October 3.

8 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of hydraulics, and more particularly to the design of safety guard gates, applicable to the filled in earth sections of navigation or other canals, to isolate such sections very promptly in case of any unlooked-for breech occurring in the embankment, so as to prevent emptying the entire canal prism of its contained water, and restrict the loss thereof to such section, or to a fraction of its length, as may be provided for, according to the total number of such gates installed.

In addition to the important objects just recited, another object of very material value is to eliminate the serious aspects of sloughing produced by the usual unrestricted outrush of water through such earthen banks, following the production of a small through passage by some of the larger burrowing animals.

Another essential object is to provide a design of guard gate which will be operable with utmost ease during closure, and not liable to be clogged by ice.

Yet another object is to design 'a form of gate which will be of maximum possible rigidity after closing, and of the utmost structural strength, so as to not be liable to failure due to unexpected presence of logs, ice, and other flotsam in the rush of current following a break in the canal wall.

A material object is to provide a form of gate readily adapted to automatic operation, in case of emergency, so as to still further limit the water loss.

7 An added object is to arrange the design so that for either direction of sudden flow, the latter will assist in closing the gate, instead of making such closure more difficult, as is the case with most types of gate heretofore built.

One more essential object is to provide a water seal around the gate, which is held closed by the pressure of the held-back water, no matter in which direction the trend of flow may be, and thus making the permanent seal independent of any possible final failure of the lock-closure mechanism, or of disruption of its current supply. Another object is to provide means for refilling the canal.

An important object is to provide a gate which may be re-set again with the utmost ease, after ro-establishment of the normal water level on each side thereof..

An added object is to arrange for the possible flow of rushing Water over the top of gate, without injury, until the impetus of the previously moving water column can be gradually arrested by such gate, after occurrence of a break.

1934, Serial No. 746,690

Other objects of importance will be self-evident to anyone skilled in the art to which my invention appertains, as, for example, the near flotation of the gate leaves.

With all these and yet other objects in mind, "51 I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my inventiomand will indicate its mode of operation, but this is to be taken as illustrative only, and not as limiting the construction of said invention, or the scope of my broader claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a guard gate system built according to my invention, and showing the gate leaves lying in their normal under-water flat position, where they will in nowise interfere with the regular navigation of 1.5- canal.

Figure 2 is a central vertical section taken on the line II-II of Figure 1, and looking with the arrows, but with motors and parts of gear train shown in elevation.

Figure 3 is a vertical section transverse to the gate axes, but longitudinal of the canal prism, and taken on the line III-III of Figure 2, again looking with the'arrows, and showing the gate leaves in their open position.

Figure 4 is a similar section on line IV--IV of Figure 2, and identical in every respect with Figure 3, except that the gate leaves are here shown closed.

Figure 5 is an enlarged section taken'on the line V-V of Figure 1, and intended to show a preferred form of heavy bottom-hinge construction, and appropriate water-seals therefor, which are in as protected positions as possible. possible.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail section showing a preferred form of rubber'gasket type plural seal utilized at the ends of the gates, as viewed on the line VI-VI of Figure l, in which the arrows are supposed to point downward at 45 degrees, in the plane of the gate when the latter is closed, as was illustrated in Figure 4.

There is but a single gasket line shown in Figure 1, however, so as to keep the drawings clear, and the same statement applies to Figure 2.

Figure 7 delineates a preferred, but not necessarily an obligatory form of wiring connections to be used with the guard gate system of my invention, and also shows schematically how a precise throw of the gate leaves, without any danger of over-running thereof, is to be attained, thereby eliminating any chance of occasional breakages of the driving system, as otherwise is readily possible.

In all these figures the same parts are designated by identical markings, liquid flows are indicated by feathered arrows, and closing motions and rotations by plain arrows, while the opening motions, which are to succeed those indicated by the latter, are shown by broken arrows.

Referring now more particularly to Figure l, a concrete gate emplacement is shown at I, to which is most solidlyattached the long stationary hinge element 2, intermeshing with the movable gate hinge 3, both enclosing the large diameter shaft 4, which is. solidly keyed tothe main'gate leaf 5, by the heavy keys 6 at each end, passing therebeyond through the heavy and suitably 'rub-.

ber gasketed bearings 1, into the twin gear-train pits 8, surrounded by the walls 9, and provided with the steps l8 and ll,,on which are mounted.

the massive bearings l2, I3, carrying shafts supporting the heavy gears 14; l5,'-of. smaller diameter than, but meshing respectively with the large 1 gears 16, I1, carried on appropriate shafts rotata- .pin 20 of ample dimensions, which connects through the connecting rod 2|, with the heavy crank-pin 22, carried concomitantly by the low speed gear 23 and 'the'opposing crank-arm 24 each carried by stub shafts in adjacent bearings as'shown, it being notedthat crank-pins 20 and 22 are set'at such'radii as will give about degrees of motion togear l6, for full degrees of travel'of the smaller gear 23, which latter is driven by the pinion 25, keyed to same shaft as the large gear 26, and which shaft is rotatably supported in' the adjacent bearings'shown, while this gear is in turn driven by the pinion 21 mounted on the suitably extended shaft of motor 28, and provided with bearing supports as required. To avoid cluttering up the drawing unnecessarily, companion bearings, and'most of the parts in the twin gear train and twin gate are not numbered, as their identification'is evident, from what has been given above. r

Extending'up and around each of the two geartrain pits 8, and thewalls 9, is the large siphon 29, connected through the Venturi end-bells .38, 3|, with the respective canal section termini 32, 33, well below the lowest possible water level.

Siphon 29 has its inverted U extending some few feet'above the very highest water level expected to be attained during flood-periods, so as to obviate any tendency toward self-starting of a flow therethrough, but is equipped -with the valved opening 34, which may be connected when desired to an appropriate vacuum pump of usual type, (not shown), in order toinitiatesuch a flow when it becomes necessary to re-fill an adjacent empty canal section, as after the repair of abreak. Each gate leaf is provided with heavy metal endplates 35, and edge plates 38, around 2" or so thick, and provided with inter-meshing sloped dentals or heavy. teeth 3'! and 38, about 15" to 18'. long, and proportioned about as shown. But

the main body of each'gate, is made hollow, and provided with the substantial spaced ribs 39, welded together, and to the thick cover plates 48, so as to subdivide the interior space into convenient-rectangles'4l, proportioned for great rigidity in the resultant structure, and so as to give near-floating buoyancy to each leaf, on its hinges 2 3; The interior, air maybe sealed in permanently by welding up all seams, or each shaft 4 may be made with a small central hole H asfar as required, and connected through appropriate drilled openings D and flexible hose connections F with a source of air supply under pressure, which may be valved into the gate when required. These devices are not shown, however, as being of usual and known construction.

Inverted V shaped side abutments 42 of the metal faced concrete, and carrying the large soft rubber gasket inserts 43, are so positioned as to contact with the gate edge strips 35 just before the base lines of the dentals 31, 38, come within contact. range of each other as the gates are closed. This is in order that the full seal will have been made at each end of gate, before the top edges. of the two gates make contact with because of the normal spring of the full length of such gate, when holding back the full head of water.

In Figure 2, no new parts appear to require identification, but the normal water surface level in canal prism has been indicated at 44, and the gear train relationships are brought out to further advantage, it being noted that gear I6 of Figure 1 has been purposely included in the elevation of gear train shown, in order that the connecting rod termini may both be indicated, in both figures.

indicated in Figure 2, on line 45, while the floor The normal canal prism bottom level is also The tremendous strength of my guard gate sys- V 7 tern is well indicatedin Figure 3, where it will be the load, articulated as shown, while the much lesser load applied along top of gate is well taken by the opposing gate which is interlocked with the loaded one by the teeth at top, and this load is transmitted to the concrete base along the plane of this opposing gate, that is, along its line of maximum strength and stiffness, and in an actual design would be transmitted to said concrete in compression, rather than in shear, as was indicated in my patent drawings before this point was noticed. Such a change would involve spreading the two Venturi bells 30 and 3| a few feet further apart, so as not to tend to undermine the gate hinge position.

By the application of the loadings to the two.

gates in the way indicated, I utilize the full strength of both gates concomitantly, to resist the flow of the water, instead of allowing one only to take the entire hydrostatic pressure, as would occur with the customary constructions. My system therefore means that the entire structure can be made lighter for the same loadings,

and that the cost can be out very materially, as is vitally important in all devices of an emergency nature, which are normally subject to but very infrequent usage.

However, as certain of the novel elements of structure shown might be incorporated with a guard gate having but a single operative leaf, as where the expected flows will always be in one and the same direction only, and the heads to be encountered are low, I do not wish to preclude such a type of structure from my present inventionjand the claims pertaining thereto.

In Figure 5, in addition to parts already identified, there are found the long non-rusting alloy steel rods used to provide an approximation to the usual roller bearing, but by the use of only a relatively small number of parts, since these rods may be several feet long, and so extend entirely through one of the hinge articulations; these articulations being provided with the heavy soft rubber gaskets 52, mounted therebetween, successively; while the stationary hinge element 2 is provided with a plurality of parallel wiper gaskets '53, of similar material, which project from their grooves sufficiently to make a fairly good pressure contact with the finished surfaces of the movable hinge element 3 and the outer edge of the intermediate gaskets 52, so as to complete the joint seal, which latter may sometimes be replaced by the alternative seal construction shown as a full length flexible sheet 54 of heavy soft rubber, or of light metal, as desired, mounted in fluid tight contact throughout, with the hinge elements 2 and 3, by means of the long metallic clips 55, clamped down by bolts 56, as required. This sealing sheet will be pressed tight against the knuckles of the hinge joint, when the gate is closed and subjected to an unbalanced Water pressure on this face of the hinge.

Or seals 53 and 54 may be used concomitantly, if desired, to make the joint doubly sure to be water-tight.

' This figure also shows the heavy, flush type bolts 5?, .used to attach the movable hinge element .3 to the body of the gate 5, which on the hinge side carries the narrow, and rather thick re-inforcing centre-plate 58, conveniently spaced from the more or less convexed side plates 49, by the wedge strips 59. Hinge element 3 may in addition be welded to the plates 58, as shown by the fill 68, while the stationary hinge element 2 may be attached solidly tothe concrete base I, by long, bent bolt rods 6| 62, firmly embedded in the concrete, or aheavy metal base-plate (not shown) may be deeply embedded in the latter, and the above parts simply bolted thereto, by shorter bolts than those just mentioned, and now made of the cap-bolt type.

- In Figure 6 an enlarged view of the heavy end strip of gate 5, is shown, in closed position and bearing on the heavy rubber gaskets 43, mounted in the heavy metal facing 63, of the projecting abutment 42, to which said facing is solidly attached about as indicated.

A plurality of gaskets has been shown here, in order to improve the certainty of the seal, but in some cases a single gasket might be found sufficient for the purpose intended.

' In the schematic diagram of Figure 7, the motor pinion 21 has been shown arbitrarily as directly meshing with the last gear 23 of the reduction gear train previously described, in order to simplify the presentation, and the contactor mechanism has been shown as single stage, for the same reason, although normally several relay stages in tandem would be actually connected in, each of a greater amperage than the preceding. In Figure '7, a double-pole main service switch has been shown at 64, one side of which is connected by the lead 65 to one side of the automatic limit switch 66, operable by the roller 67 when it contacts with appropriate detector devices, to close the contacts indicated, thereby activating the return lead 68 which proceeds to and through the lower or closing coil 69, of the main contactor l0, and on to the lowest point H, on the C or closing throw of the single-pole selector switch 12, the remaining lower point 73 on which, connects via lead 14, with one side of the normally closed limit switch 15, operable when pin 16, mounted on gear 23, contacts with the roll 11, thereby opening the circuit through leads l8, l9, and 88, to the remaining pole of the main switch 64, above mentioned. Thus if switch 12 had been down, coil 69 would have been in action up to the time when limit switch 15 was forced to open, at which point contactor 18 would open, by the return to normal position of the spring 8|, suitably attached to a stationary element 82, and retarded properly by action of the dash-pot S3, to prevent overrunning. It will be observed that I have bridged the leads 65 and 68, by the manually operable switch 84, to permit distant manual selection of the gate closing time, instead of auto--. matic, when and as required, and that a signal light 85 has been properly connected in to indicate to attendant when the limit switch 66 has functioned, so that he may then throw switch 12 to its downward position, if this has not already been done, and if no other conditions are present to prevent immediate closure, as he may determine. A branch 86, from lead 65, connects to point 81, and thence to both the upper or opening coil 88, and a main contact 89, of the contactor 79, the circuit through the coil proceeding on, via lead 5!), to the highest point on switch 72, and out from the remaining upper point, through the lead 9|, to one side of the normally closed limit switch 92, operable by roller 93, contacting with pin 16, as shown. Return lead 94 from this limit switch, goes to return side of main switch 64, and assuming the latter closed, switch 92 is shown as having just terminated the opening throw of the guard gate mechanism.

This completes the energizing coil connections for contactor l0, and I will now take up its load connections. The two inner bottom contact points are respectively cross-connected to opposite upper inner points along contact arm, and the upper and lower end contacts are connected together, at each end of said arm, separately, as shown. As the selector switch 12 is shown closed toward its upper or opening side, thus activating the upper or opening coil 88 of contactor 10, if limit switch 92 be assumed to have not yet functioned, I will first follow through the upper contact connections from contactor. Point 87 being alive, this is now bridged over to line 95, proceeding to lower brush of motor 28, back from upper brush via lead 96, to extreme left upper point 9?, on contactor it, where it is bridged over to contact attached to line 58 leading to motor series coil 99, and back through leads Hit and It, to the return side of main service switch 66, completing the circuit and operating the motor in the gate opening direction until limit switch 92 does function, thereby de-energizing the opening coil of contactor l0, and shutting down the motor, as is shown. But if later on the selector switch l2 be thrown down to its C or closing position,

' dent to anyone skilled in the art.

- 1. switch 64.

and either the automatic switch 56, or the manual switch 84 now becomes closed, a circuit may be traced which includes the lower or closing coil 69 of the contactor 10, and which leads to the immediate bridging of its lower contacts by the two insulated bridging conductors shown. A motor operating circuit may now be traced from live point 81, to contactor point 89, which is bridged over to connect with lead 96, to upper brush of motor 28, out through lower brush to line 95, to lower outside point on right of contactor, bridging over to adjacent point connected to line 98'running to series coil 99, and back through lead I and line 19, to return side of main service It will be noted that the current flow through armature only has been reversed, so that motor will now start up in the reverse or closing direction, and proceed until gear 23 has made a precise half-revolution, at which point the pin l6 will have fully contacted with roll 11, of the lower limit switch 55, opening the latters contacts, and shutting down the motor.

This will move the large gear l6 through precisely 90 degrees, in the gate closing direction, for

the full 180 degrees of travel of gear 23, while the gears l4, and I5, mounted on the respective gate shafts, are made sufllciently smaller to'give these gates the required 135 degrees of angular travel, more or less.

Atypical complete drive has been shown, although other alternative forms will be self-evi- It will be-observed that my construction obviates operating the connecting rod through too great an angular travel, on its power delivery end, where it is prefv .Now as to the sequence of operations in connec-.

tion with the normal functioning of my guard gate system. Provision having been made for either the automatic or the visual observation of the occurrence of a break in the canal walls, suitable non-included means are provided to function the roll 61, and thereby the switch 66, or the switch 8-3 is thrown manually, as preferred, this occurring as soon as the excess fiow is noted.

Selector switch 12 being now, or previously, set in the closing or C position, and assuming that main switch 64 has been closed all along, motor 28 will function to promptly close the two gates, it being noted that these have nearly enough inherent buoyancy to fioat in the water, so that theclosure is easily started, and that as soon as the gates begin to interfere with the flow of current, the impulse of the moving water column will always aid such closure, no matter which way the flow occurs, and thereby bring the gates up into-firm contact with the gaskets 43, the connecting-rod and gearing mechanisms serving to slow up the final contact to an easy approach under all conditions, so that hammer-blow impacts are obviated here. If a great rush of water had been occurring, this need not be suddenly interrupted, since even after full closure, this water can readily run up over the V top of the meeting gates for as long a period as may be required to slow up and finally halt the entire column concerned. After this, a status quo will be maintained until word has been received that the break has been repaired, when a vacuum pump (not shown), or other appropriate and similar means of well known type, is connected with one or both of the large .siphons 29, by opening the valve 34, connected therewith, and the air exhausted until the water in 30, 3| rises to close on itself over the top of the inverted U of the siphon, as required, when flow will be initiated and will gradually rise to its full maximum-flow value as'the remanent air is gradually drawn out by the further functioning of said pump, or by contact with the flow, toward the low water. side in the canal, and so maintained until the latter is filled up again to normal, or until word shall have been received to again interrupt the flow, as may be done by letting atmospheric air into the top of the U above mentioned, through the valve 34, and by outside connections well known in the art, (but not shown).

When finally, the low water side has been brought up to normal level, and the two siphons emptied as above outlined, it will be found that the normal buoyancy of the two gate leaves, together with the absence of unbalanced pressures thereagainst, again make it very easy for the operating motor, or motors, to open up the same to the initial fiat position, and thus completing the cycle.

As the gates are normally kept at bottom of the deep channel, ice will not bother them much if at all.

They may even lift up through moderately thick layers of surface ice, and will close in spite of this, if the abutments 42 are kept well greased at normal water line, so that the ice will not adhere here, or if the water be kept warm enough not to freeze for a very limited narrow zone 7 around such gasket positions.

Furthermore, canal operation is not normally contemplated anyway, in the colder winter months, as the main canal prism will be emptied before extreme cold weather, when navigation becomes impossible. 7

But gates of my proposed construction will successfully operate under heavier ice conditions,

and accumulations, than those of usual known. types, since practically the entire gate mechanism.

lies well belowthe normal line of freezing, and the apparatus proposed is well adapted to crush any usual adherences, or floating chunks, which might interfere with closure of the leaves.

In the operation of safety guard gates of my invention, certain very definite advantages accrue, therefore, from their ability to successfully cope with unusual ice conditions, as well as their ability to gradually stop along moving water column without the introduction of material water-hammer effects.

Other very definite advantages accrue from the fact that they provide, for the first time, a practical means of accomplishment of the entire series of objects heretofore mentioned, by one and the same mechanism.

In dealing with ice conditions, still other advantages will accrue,.if the gates be provided with a continued flow of warm air, through the connections F, H, and D, shown, just before, and during the closure period, so as to melt'oif any remaining ice interferences, and permit 100% closure even under the most severe conditions.

Yet other. important advantages accrue from the fact that the maximum hydrostatic pressure line is utilized for my heavy hinge position, which lies also along the line of greatest length of the gate, so that the end abutments have a relatively small fraction of the total applied load to carry; while the top line of the gate, which has the lowest hydrostatic pressures to deal with, but extends a long distance between end supports, is arranged to be powerfully supported by the opposite leaf, in the plane of the latter, so as to present the highest possible rigidity here for either direction of initial water flow.

The provision of a precise throw for my gates adds still other advantages, since the usually present danger of cracking up the gears due to over-running the exact closure position, is eliminated thereby.

I claim:

1. A canal safety gate in combination with an uninterrupted through canal channel, comprising a pair of transversely mounted, hollow, bottom-hinged gate leaves spaced apart axially of said channel, and mounted on the bottom thereof so as to lie flat and away from each other, a triangular abutment on each side of the channel adjacent the space between the gate leaves, and power means for concomitantly raising the said leaves until they contact with the said triangular abutments and also with each other along their longitudinal free edges.

2. A canal safety gate in combination with an uninterrupted through canal channel, as in claim 1, in which an elastic gasket is mounted along the contacting faces of said abutment and so projecting as to make contact with said leaves slightly in advance of their contact with each other.

3. A canal safety gate in combination with a normally uninterrupted through canal channel, as in claim 1, in which the connection of said power means with said gate leaves includes a rotating crank-pin connecting thru a connectingrod and mounted so as to be operable to deadcentre position of said crank-pin as said gate leaves approach into contact, thus locking the latter in this position.

4. A canal safety gate in combination with a normally uninterrupted through canal channel carrying a moving fluid element, and comprising a pair of transversely mounted, hollow, bottomhinged gate leaves, one up-stream and the other down-stream, spaced apart transversely to their hinge-lines, and mounted on the bottom of said channel so as to lie flat and away from each other, a plurality of triangular abutments, one

mounted base-down on each side of the said channel adjacent the space between the gate leaves, and power means for concomitantly raising the said leaves until they contact with the said triangular abutments, and with each other 6 along their free edges, the up-stream leaf connecting through said power means with the I down-stream leaf, whereby any interruption of the fluid motion by the raising of said up-stream leaf will lead to pressure thereagainst and assist 10 closure of both leaves.

5. A canal safety gate in combination with an uninterrupted through canal channel, as in claim 1, which also comprises a fluid pressure equalizing conduit by-passed around said gate, and a 15 flow-control means mounted operably in said conduit.

6. A canal safety gate in combination with an uninterrupted through canal channel, as in claim 1, which is also characterized by interlocking toothed elements along the contacting free edges of said leaves, whereby contact pressure exerted by either is applied substantially along the plane of the other leaf.

'7. A canal safety gate in combination with an uninterrupted through canal channel, as in claim 1, which is also characterized by said triangular abutments being of substantially right-angled type in line with the similarly angled meeting planes of the said leaves, whereby a hydrostatic. 30 load carried by the outer side of either leaf will be transmitted to the other substantially in the plane thereof, in those free edge sections lying between the spaced abutments.

8. A canal safety gate in combination with an uninterrupted through canal channel, comprising a pair of transversely mounted, bottomhinged gate leaves spaced apart axially of the said channel, and mounted on the bottom thereof so as to lie fiat and away from each other, a triangular abutment on each side of the channel adjacent the space between the gate leaves, power means for concomitantly raising the said leaves until they contact with the said triangular abutments and with each other along their longitudinal free edges, a starting contact located at a point distant from the said power means, connections from the said contact to the said power means whereby a starting impulse is transmissible to the said power means, and a closing means connected with the said starting contact and operable by predeterminable changes in condition of the working fluid at the said distant point.

JAMES L. ADAMS, JR. 55 

